Bruins Get The Sweep

This is something new. For the first time in BSMW history (8 springs now) I’ve never posted about a Bruins playoff series victory.

The Bruins did it in style last night, beating Montreal 4-1 and sweeping the series four games to zero. The win gives the Bruins the opportunity to catch a breather before the next series.

Fluto Shinzawa has former Canadien Michael Ryder once again leading the charge, with a pair of goals in the victory. Steve Conroy has the Bruins already focused on the road ahead. Joe Haggerty has the Bruins making a statement in this series. Mick Colageo says that it is clear that these aren’t the same old Bruins. Mike Loftus says that there are plenty of reasons to love this sweep.

Kevin Paul Dupont has the Bruins “finally able to put some closure to their long and festering wound of playoff disappointment.” Stephen Harris wonders if David Krejci might be the best all-around player in the NHL right now. Colageo has Michael Ryder particularly happy with the outcome of the series.

Sean Farrell says that in the end, the Canadiens just couldn’t compete with the Bruins. Harris reports that Andrew Ference is getting closer to a return. Colageo has Blake Wheeler making the right choice to join the Bruins over the Canadiens. Check more Bruins coverage and messageboard buzz at BruinsLinks.com.

Celtics

The Celtics get back in action tonight, this time at the United Center in Chicago.

Mark Murphy has Paul Pierce hoping to shake the tentativeness that plagued his play during the first two games of this series. Tim Weisberg has the Celtics relying heavily on “Big Baby” Davis. Dan Ventura has Brian Scalabrine being cleared to play tonight, giving the Celtics at least another big body. Scott Souza says that Scalabrine can bring some balance to the Celtics defense. Ben Larsen examines how hitting the glass has paid off for the Celtics thus far. Patrick Gilroy tries to put last week in perspective for the Celtics. The BSMW Full Court Press gives us some Give and Go observations from the series thus far. Jeff Howe has UConn alums Ray Allen and Ben Gordon putting on a show. There’s more Celtics stuff at CelticsLinks.com.

Marc J. Spears examines Chicago’s long history with and love of basketball. Frank Dell’Apa says that the deal that netted the Bulls Brad Miller and John Salmons has transformed the club. Daniel I. Dorfman has the Bulls not happy with the number of points they’ve given up in the first two games. Robert Lee says that the Bulls are showing us that they are better than we thought they were. Jessica Camerato has Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich giving the Bulls experience. She also wonders what the Celtics can expect from the Bulls crowd.

Buddy Thomas attacks Tommy Heinsohn. I disagree completely with the entire premise of this column and to those “Celtics fans” that complain about Heinsohn. When I’m watching the Celtics, I enjoy Tommy’s rants, he’s defending the Celtics, he’s on “our side”, which is a sharp contrast to when you’ve got the likes of Mike Breen calling the games, Tommy is saying what a lot of us are thinking while watching the game, and we should treasure him while we’ve got him on the telecasts. It’s going to be a whole lot duller to watch the games when Donny Marshall steps into the full time analyst role – no offense at all to Marshall – who I also think is better than most people give him credit for.

Bill Reynolds says that right now the NBA is all about LeBron vs Kobe, that is what the league wants to see in the finals, and that is what they’re going to get. It does seem inevitable.

Red Sox/Patriots

The Red Sox pulled off a day/night doubleheader sweep of the Minnesota Twins yesterday on Terry Francona’s 50th birthday. Check the coverage at RedSoxLinks.com. A few Red Sox links of interest: Bill Burt has Charlie Hough speaking proudly of Tim Wakefield. Adam Kilgore has the odd story of Lee County Florida turning over emails to the FBI related to the Red Sox proposed new spring training facility.

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I guess I’m one of those “Celtics fans” you disagree with Bruce. Tommy’s fun to listen to over the endless 82 game schedule because of the unintentional comedy his rants provide and they add color to an otherwise meaningless Feb game. When it is a serious game, I’d rather hear some actual analysis of the game and strategy both teams are employing (or that the analyst thinks they might be better off employing) rather than Tommy talking over the action endlessly whining about every call.

Seeing the ratings you posted for one of the games in the series showed a 50/50 split between CSN and the national feed, I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion.

Bruce

I shouldn’t have put “Celtics fans” in quotes like that. It was unnecessary. My bad.

I think Tommy does provide what you are asking for more often than you think, but it gets overshadowed by the rest of his act.

http://www.jonvssports.blogspot.com Jon

Isn’t Buddy Thomas the same guy with his head buried up Peyton Manning’s rear end?

Tommy’s whining about refs might be annoying, but here’s the problem: he’s right. The NBA’s officials are AWFUL. Sorry, them’s the breaks.

http://www.sportsfan4.com Josh

I can’t wait for the Bruins to get back to work in round two. Also very fulfilling that we swept the Habs after seeing them beat us year after year in the last decade.

Hopefully the Celtics can hold on and get into the second round, regroup and find that special something inside to make another championship run.

Most importantly, sox/yanks starts tomorrow and I might miss work all week for it.